Raising my imaginary eyebrow, I couldn't help but tilt my head in confusion upon seeing the woman who walked into my cafe.

She was beautiful, by human standards, with long scarlet red hair, attractive facial features, and a curvy physique, however, to my keen eyes, I could see the compact musculature of her form making her at least somewhat stronger than your typical human. Although most would consider her beautiful, I saw her for what she was really, a Black Widow, a spider ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

"Welcome!" I greeted her, before asking with a smile on my 'face', "So, why have you entered my wonderful cafe, little spider?"

To no one's surprise, she didn't flinch or show any outside reaction to the nickname, but her smile did widen a tiny bit.

She stepped forward with a confident stride, without a word about my...unique appearance, she began looking through the display cases, eyes wandering over every item and object on display.

Her eyes gazed over every item and their brief descriptions.

I noticed her eyes paused on my drug-...more...medical items for a bit longer than my other goods, and I noticed brief confusion when she looked past the counter and to the fridge which had some glass panels to display the refrigerated goods I had to offer.

She momentarily paused on the names of some of the foods and drinks, likely because she couldn't recognize any of the strange names, and then her eyes moved, focusing on my floating form.

Her gaze was quick but thorough, as she scanned every inch of my form, likely to see if I were real or not.

Waving my hand in front of her face, I watched as she tensed, but instantly relaxed, noticing my lack of hostile intent.

Backing up. her eyes briefly glanced at my other customers still in the store, more than likely recognizing them all.

When she looked back at me, I decided to introduce myself, "My name is Zeref, I am the wonderful Owner of this Establishment, what might your name be, little spider?" I asked, continuing with the nickname.

Her eyes hardened for mere moments before her smile widened, "You can call me Clair, what sort of things do you sell here if you don't mind me asking?"

Seeing her place her arms underneath her breasts, I couldn't help but sigh.

"My Cafe offers a wide range of goods. From medicine, weapons, and armor, to Genetic Editors, and Gene Enhancers," I started, noting her look of confusion when I mentioned the Gene Serums, so, I explained, "Think of our Gene Serums as Medicine that enhances, changes, or evolves an entity's DNA. These Serums can enhance a person's body to be as strong as Captain America or Superman, or give them a wide range of abilities that could be perceived as 'Magic' to the common man. These Serums are called Conduit Awakeners, turning those injected into Conduits, a new sub-type of Human, like the Inhumans, Metahumans, Mutants, and other similar sub-species of Humanity."

Noting that I had her attention, my smile widened, "Of course, that's not the only thing, the true focus of the Cafe, is our unique Virtual Reality Computers that allow any man, woman, or entity, to experience a new or different life in other worlds, so far, we have three worlds available, four starting tomorrow."

"Normally, I'd recommend you give a one-hour session a try to get a feel for the games, but unfortunately, you chose a bad time to enter the cafe, so, I'd recommend you check out the Game Trailers and make an account, perhaps even purchase something before the store closes," I recommended.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"If you happen to still be interested, you can come back tomorrow, hours are listed on the board over there, along with the rules of my Cafe," I continued.

Remaining silent for a moment while she thought, she looked back to me and asked, "May I see these...Trailers, as you called them?"

"Sure thing, you can check them out on one of the computers after you create an account, do you need any help in creating an account?" I politely asked.

"I'll be fine," She replied, walking over to the computer.

With a smirk, I confirmed her identity when I noticed she sneakily placed a bug under the desk and chair, using simple actions to hide it, such as adjusting the height of the chair and rolling it under the desk so she was closer to the computer.

Using one of my minds, I began observing her.

Now that I confirmed her identity, I wondered why such a dangerous and 'important' woman would enter my cafe.

However, I did have one guess as to why she was here, that being she was assigned a mission in regard to me, my store, or my products. Which would mean, I now had the attention of a certain one-eyed pirate that loves flying boats.

Or, I could be wrong, either way, I expected I would have a new customer soon, one that would more than likely become addicted or appalled by my VR Worlds.

As for the Pirate, I figure he'd react in two ways, the first, would be seeing the value my Cafe and its services offered and represented. The second would be the serious danger I presented and decided to either 'recruit' me or destroy me. Either way, I figured it would be entertaining.

Focusing on the Black Widow that strayed from her nest, I couldn't help but wonder who would win, a guardian of nature, a bat in the night, two vigilantes who believed violence solved their problems, a cat thief of the night, or even a particular psycho clown.

This new life of mine was shaping up to be one filled with drama, and I couldn't wait to see how the events unfolded.

...

[Black Widow's POV]

She didn't know how this mission was going to go, but this wasn't what she was expecting, not even close.

Whatever that...thing was, felt dangerous, and its gaze caused her to freeze, it was as if she was being stared at by a predator that saw her only as prey.

But she kept her composure and fought against her instincts. The creature, whatever it was, seemed calm and carefree as if it didn't care about the world around it, and it didn't react to any of her advances, instead keeping a professional, yet playful tone.

Then it called her 'Little Spider,' and if she didn't stop herself, she would have instinctively drawn the dagger hidden in her shirt, and attacked.

It showed her its wares, and on display, was the very medicine that S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to get its hands on from the N.Y.P.D. that confiscated it from some thugs.

However, the creature was selling a lot more than she or Fury would have ever expected, including stronger variants of the medicine called 'Stimpaks.'

However, what shocked her the most, was the Serums the creature mentioned next, these...Conduit Gene Awakeners.

If what the creature said was true, then it would be revolutionary. A serum that could give powers or strengthen someone? Sure, there existed such things around the world similar to Captain America's Super Soldier Serum, but all of those have been lost or forgotten, or were too hard to manufacture.

Holding in the questions she wanted to really ask, she asked less invasive questions that shouldn't arouse too much suspicion, though it was very likely that the creature knew of her identity based on the nickname it gave her.

Then it told her about the 'Virtual Reality' Computers, saying, and quote, "Is our Unique Virtual Reality Computers that allow any man, woman, or entity, to experience a new or different life in other worlds."

Curious, she asked to see the trailers of these 'Games.'

Which led her to sit down in a chair and get on one of these computers.

Luckily, this meant she could easily plant a few bugs under the desk, behind the computer, and under the chair before she made an 'account; on the computer, which proved to be straightforward in process.

Then she was directed by the computer to watch the trailers due to being a new 'Player.'

She was shown the horrors of a world that faced a Nuclear Armageddon, a world brought down to its knees because of a sickness, and people began gaining powers, and she was shown a world where humanity was on the brink of extinction, as Zombies ruthlessly hunted down all who lived.